Coffee High School graduate and local farmer Logan Gillis is helping the School Nutrition Program in a way no other local farmer has done before. His Coffee County-grown Satsuma oranges are going from the tree directly to every Coffee County school cafeteria. Students who participate in the lunch and breakfast programs will be able to eat this fresh citrus from now until the season ends.
Logan graduated from Coffee High School in 2004 and went on to ABAC, where he received his degree in Poultry Science. Influenced by his grandfather, Logan says agriculture has always been a big part of his life. He is currently managing his own poultry business, 450 acres of row crops, and is a sales associate for Griffin’s Warehouse.
Logan planted his first Satsuma trees in 2018, but his crop has now grown to 14 acres, or approximately 1800 trees. Satsumas are sweet, easy-peel mandarin oranges, and have become a popular cold-hardy citrus tree among the Georgia agriculture industry.
Logan says that although the industry can be challenging, it is also rewarding because it provides an essential product for everyone. He says he is proud to be a farmer because farmers are crucial to local and global communities, adding, “Without agriculture, what would life be like?”
The Coffee County School Nutrition Program is proud to offer Coffee County-grown produce to its students as part of the Farm to School and Georgia Grown initiatives.